Carménère Wine

Look for ripe blackberry and plum wrapped around an unmistakable green bell pepper or capsicum note, the variety’s signature, which comes from pyrazines and is strongest when the grape is under-ripe. Compared with Merlot it is similarly soft and round but lower in tannin and more savoury, with that herbaceous, peppery edge as the giveaway. If a Chilean red is plush and easy-drinking with a green-pepper lift, you are almost certainly tasting Carménère.

The grape that came back from the dead

Carménère has one of wine’s best comeback stories. Once a respected Bordeaux variety, it was nearly wiped out by the phylloxera louse in the 1860s and assumed lost.

Then, for over a century, Chilean growers cultivated what they thought was Merlot. In 1994 DNA testing revealed much of that “Merlot” was actually Carménère, hiding in plain sight. Chile had unknowingly become its global home.

Today Carménère is essentially Chile’s signature grape — a deep, plummy, spicy red that exists almost nowhere else in any quantity. Tasting it is tasting a small piece of wine history rescued from extinction.

What it tastes like

Carménère is medium to full-bodied, deeply coloured and smooth, with softer, rounder tannins than its old Bordeaux cousin Cabernet Sauvignon.

The hallmark is a savoury, spicy character laid over ripe dark fruit — it’s juicy but rarely jammy, with a distinctive green-peppercorn or roasted-pepper twist.

• Aromas & flavours: blackberry, black plum, cherry, green/black peppercorn, bell pepper, soy, dark chocolate, smoke, dried herbs • Signature note: that green, peppery edge (the same pyrazine compound found in green peppers) — charming when balanced, herbaceous and “stalky” if the grapes were underripe

Ripeness — the make-or-break factor

More than almost any grape, Carménère lives and dies by ripeness. It’s a late-ripener that needs a long, warm season to fully mature.

Underripe: aggressively green and vegetal — think bitter bell pepper, tomato leaf, even a bit “stalky.” This gave early Chilean Carménère a mixed reputation.

Properly ripe: that greenness mellows into an appealing savoury-spicy lift over sweet black fruit and chocolate. Modern Chilean producers have largely cracked this by picking later and choosing warmer sites.

This is why two Carménères can taste worlds apart — and why it pays to buy from a good producer.

Where it shines

• Chile — the undisputed home, with over 90% of the world’s plantings. The Colchagua Valley, Rapel and Maipo make the benchmark examples: ripe, smooth, spicy and remarkably good value. • Bordeaux, France — its birthplace, but now grown only in tiny amounts. • Elsewhere — small plantings in Italy (notably the northeast), China, and parts of California and Washington.

Within Chile, warmer inland valleys ripen it most reliably, which is why the plushest, most chocolatey styles tend to come from there.

Good to know

Food: Its spice and soft tannins make it very food-friendly and forgiving. It loves grilled and roasted meats, peppered steak, barbecue, and dishes with herbs, cumin or mild chilli. Its peppery side echoes seasoned food beautifully.

Serving: Serve at 16-18°C. A short decant can help a young one open up.

Value: One of the best-value reds out there — Chile makes serious, characterful Carménère for modest prices.

Common confusion: For 150 years it was mistaken for Merlot, and it can still resemble a plush Merlot at a glance — but the tell-tale peppery, spicy edge gives Carménère away.